network
Latest
Arsenal equip new stadium with HDTV
The Dolphins aren't the only one with HD aspirations, Arsenal Football Club (the other football) has teamed up with Sony to outfit their new stadium with high definition from top to bottom. With a whopping 439 screens all connected via network (sounds like they'll be using these). The Baltimore Ravens went with a similar approach last season with the help of Panasonic.Seems like a great way to introduce the fans to HD, as they walk through the stadium and enjoy games they'll surely want one of those nice new TVs for their home, and that is what Sony is betting on. When your local team comes begging for funds to build a new stadium, would you prefer two big 720p screens, or several hundred smaller LCDs?
Orgrimmar and Stormwind on a par with real cities?
Seattle, New York, LA, London... Azeroth? The latest addition to city-specific blog site Metroblogs' line-up is none other than our favourite virtual destination. Although there's not much on the site at the moment (watch out for NSFW language in the first link), it's an interesting move to consider.Only a few of Metroblogs' other locales -- including London, New York and Istanbul -- have a higher population than Azeroth, although some would say there are big differences between a real urban population and an online game's subscriber base. We, of course, welcome those who think WoW is diverse enough to merit a dedicated blog, but it's going to be interesting to see how "metroblogging" a virtual world controlled by a single entity compares to a real live city.
Lair off-screen trailer looked good at GDC
Stills and screenshots can only do so much to convey how good a game looks. Here's an off-screen video presentation of Lair recorded from GDC, showing off the Factor 5 game in action (or, should we say, motion).You might recognize some of the animation from videos seen elsewhere, but it was nice to catch the newer footage of a dragon wireframe model meticulously rendered with layers of musculature and skin, too.If that's not enough for ya, you can always just listen in to the audio, which features a young lady from Washington asking questions of a developer with the hope of getting hired. Consider this a lesson in networking.[Via GameBrink]
Big network, little Macs
I often dream of getting myself a Mac mini and a copy of OS X server and setting up a fully blown network in my apartment. I then realize that I live alone in a one bedroom apartment, and that would be complete overkill. Luckily, thanks to the magic of the Internet, I can read about how Ken Collins took three Mac minis and created an industrial strength home network for himself.It is quite impressive, especially his use of IP over Firewire and his modifications to the Mac minis.Give the post a read, you won't be sorry (unless networking bores you, in which case never mind).
HANA is that you? Nope, it's tecStream
It will be some time before we see an of HANA's envisioned 1394 connected devices, but if you want a peek at the future, there is always UStec's tecStream home networking platform. Due to the array of devices which will connect to both your older analog sources or newer digital products via IEEE 1394.tecStream is designed to work over Cat5 cabling, basically wiring your whole house via Ethernet back to a 1.6 Gbps central switch, and allowing you to share and view content with a single remote control, no matter where you are. They claim it can handle up to 15 streams of 30Mbps or higher.With HANA and federal mandates hopefully combining to increase 1394 support, this sort of network may be right on time.
CES: Linksys networkable DVD player KiSS DP-600
Linksys is the next to jump headfirst into the living room, with this networked DVD player (DVD? that's so old school), but wait, it's got next gen features with this old-gen tech. It will connect to the internet for it's program guide, streaming media, video on demand and other content besides playing DVD's and WMV.No word on DRM, will this work with Viiv, Media Center, HANA or any of the other alphabet soup of technologies shooting our way this year? No word yet, but this will probably still be a cheaper source of high definition content than HD-DVD or Blu-ray players will be this year. No word either on price, although it is shipping "soon".Features: 1920x1080 playback Playback in Windows Media Video 9 HD, DivX HD, Nero Digital, XviD, MPEG-1, 2 and 4, WMA, WMA Pro, MP3, and Ogg Vorbis Built-in WLAN 802.11g connection for cable-free access to the Internet or home PC Ethernet 10/100 technology HDMI connection Online Electronic Program Guide (EPG) WebRadio 3 with more than 3,000 radio stations Online weather forecasts for any continent, country or town StockView where you can check and convert currency values Online games Video-on-Demand - availability depending on the area
